Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition

WHEN AND HOW TO APPLY FOR ACCELERATED REHABILITATIVE DISPOSITION (ARD)

The ARD program is a pre-trial diversionary program administered by the York County District Attorney’s Office. Successful completion of ARD may result in dismissal and expungement of criminal charges. ARD applications may be obtained from a Magisterial District Justice (MDJ) or at the York County District Attorney’s Office. Filing an ARD application with the District Attorney’s Office must occur after the preliminary hearing. However, the ARD application must be submitted within 30 days after the arraignment date set by the MDJ. Applications received 31 days after the arraignment date will be automatically rejected. The address to submit applications is:

York County District Attorney’s Office ARD Unit 45 North George St, 3rd Floor York, Pa 17401

Applications must be filed on an original orange application and may be mailed or hand-delivered. Faxed or emailed applications will not be accepted. An application may be filed with or without counsel. Applications must be filled out in their entirety.

ARD applications will be rejected if applicants do not answer the questions accurately regarding violations of the law. REPORT ALL PREVIOUS CONTACTS WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES WHETHER OR NOT IT RESULTED IN A CONVICTION. If you have any doubts as to whether something should be included in your answer, include it. Prior contact with the criminal justice system does not necessarily result in your being denied admission. However, providing false, misleading, or incomplete information will. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure accuracy.

Also, should you have contact with law enforcement after you have filed the application that contact must be reported in writing to the York County District Attorney’s Office ARD Unit within 72 hours after the contact.

The applicant and applicant’s counsel will receive either a recommendation for acceptance or a rejection, by mail, within approximately 4-6 weeks after the scheduled arraignment date.

A recommended applicant will receive notice of required conditions and scheduling of a placement hearing before the Court. If rejected, the matter will be scheduled for a pretrial conference.

Should a defendant fail to timely complete ARD conditions after placement, the defendant will be removed from the program and the case will be prosecuted.

An applicant has been found guilty of or accepted ARD of a charge brought under section 3802 (DUI) within ten years of the date of the current offense, unless the previous charge was for an ungraded misdemeanor under section (a)(2) and was the applicant’s first offense under section 3802.

An accident occurred in connection with the events surrounding the current charge and an individual other than the applicant was killed or suffered serious bodily injury as a result of the accident.

There was a passenger under 14 years of age in the motor vehicle the applicant was operating.

DISQUALIFIERS

offense greater than level 2 assigned by the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing and referred to as the Basic Sentencing Matrix or where the applicant has a prior record score in excess of 1. For the web based chart, click on the hyperlink below:

Failure to complete Fingerprint Order (It is the applicant’s responsibility to complete the fingerprint order provided by the MDJ before application to ARD)

ADDITIONAL FACTORS

The District Attorney reserves the right to consider additional factors when determining eligibility for ARD and will note the reasons on a rejection notice. These include but are not limited to; protection of society, amenability to treatment and violation of the public trust.

Restitution: Applicants will not be submitted for placement when more than $1,000.00 in total restitution is due. Restitution in excess of that amount must be paid at the placement hearing.

Repeated Conduct: Prior repeated conduct of a similar nature to the current offense may cause exclusion from ARD.

Certified Driving Record: A significant history of motor vehicle violations may cause exclusion from ARD.

Victim(s) Opinion: Victim(s) will be contacted and their opinion considered as per 18 P.S. 11.101, et seq. (Crime Victims’ Act).

Prosecutor Opinion: A prosecutor’s opinion will be sought in all cases involving DUI with drugs, all drug cases and may be sought in other cases.

Affiant Officer Opinion: The affiant will NOT be contacted by the District Attorney’s Office for an ARD opinion. If the Affiant in the case would like to provide an opinion they can do so by emailing Katherine Conaway at KConaway@yorkcountypa.gov or completing the attached form and mailing or faxing it to the District Attorney’s Office.

The District Attorney reserves the right to reject for situations deemed otherwise inappropriate. Reasons for rejection will be stated on the rejection notice.

Defendants who are rejected from ARD consideration will have 30 days from the date of rejection to submit an ARD Reconsideration Request. A formal request must be provided in writing and directed to the ARD UNIT at the address above. Reconsideration requests should address the reasons a defendant was rejected from ARD. Any other reasons are valuable in the reconsideration process but must be submitted with the initial application. Any late reconsideration requests will be automatically rejected.

Questions about ARD applications can be directed to 771-771-9600 extension 301.

ARD Supervision

Once a defendant is placed on the ARD program they are directed to comply with general conditions and special conditions.

General Conditions: Each ARD Participant is subject to the same general conditions. ARD participants will sign an acknowledgment form at ARD placement and must abide by the general conditions. Failure to abide by the general conditions will result in a violation being submitted to the Court with a recommendation to remove the defendant from the ARD program.

Special Conditions: Each ARD participant is subject to any special conditions as imposed by the York County District Attorney’s Office. Special conditions are specific to each ARD participant, based on the facts of the case and the defendant’s needs. Special conditions include, but are not limited to; drug and alcohol evaluation and any recommended treatment, mental health evaluation and any recommended treatment, anger management classes, no contact order with any victims and an apology letter to the victims. Participants who refuse to accept the special conditions will be rejected from ARD. Failure to abide by the special conditions will result in a violation being submitted to the Court with a recommendation to remove the defendant from the ARD program.

Supervision: ARD participants are ordered to a 12 month period of supervision. While under ARD supervision, the District Attorney’s Office will be responsible for overseeing compliance of defendants on the program. All ARD defendants will have an ARD supervisor through The District Attorney’s Office. Defendants will submit proof of completion to their ARD supervisor at the District Attorney’s Office. ARD defendants are NOT supervised by the Adult Probation Department.

Reporting: ARD is non-reporting. However, there may be situations ARD participants are required to report. ARD participants are ordered to comply with reporting through the District Attorney’s Office. Once the defendant is placed into the ARD program, if directed to report they are required to respond/report within a timely manner. Failure to report/respond to the District Attorney’s Office will result in a violation being submitted to the Court for removal from ARD.

Urine Screening: ARD participants will be subject to urine screening through the agency in which they are receiving treatment. ARD participants must comply with directives to submit to urine screening and are responsible for any out of pocket expenses relating to urine screening. Failure to submit to urine screening could result in an unsuccessful discharge from treatment. An unsuccessful discharge from treatment will result in a violation of the ARD Program and subject to removal from the program.

Violation(s): If a defendant fails to complete the special conditions and/or fails to abide by the general conditions, a petition for removal will be submitted to the Court. If a petition is submitted to the Court, the hearing will be scheduled before a Judge. The defendant is required to attend this hearing. Failure to attend the violation hearing could result in removal from the ARD program and potentially a warrant for their arrest. The hearing will provide the defendant an opportunity to address the Court. The Judge will then determine if the defendant should be removed from the ARD program and the case scheduled for Pretrial Conference.

Note: Once a defendant is removed from the ARD program by a Judge, a motion for reinstatement is the only recourse for attempting to get back into the ARD program. If a Judge removes the defendant from ARD, the Judge must put them back into the ARD program if deemed appropriate.

Expungement(s): When an ARD participant successfully completes the ARD program they may be eligible for expungement. Once all special conditions are satisfied, and the defendant complied with the general conditions while on supervision, the York County District Attorney’s Office will close the defendant’s case. At that point, documentation will be mailed to the defendant including an expungement petition and instructions. The defendant MUST take the document to a notary. Once at the notary, the defendant will sign the document and the notary will certify the document. When this is complete, the defendant should mail the signed and certified document to:

York County District Attorney’s Office ARD Unit 45 North George Street, 3rd Floor York, Pa 17401

Note: Once the York County District Attorney’s Office receives the signed and certified document, the expungement process will begin. Please note, expungement can take up to six (6) months until the record is purged from all databases.